


Ice Lakes

by IcedVanilla



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Minecraft storymode
Genre: He's also hypothermic, Jesse is in denial of his feelings, Lukas is hopelessly in love, Pining, a singular grain of angst, falling through the ice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 11:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25350025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcedVanilla/pseuds/IcedVanilla
Summary: While trying to find their way back home, the portal hallway takes Jesse and his friends to a cold, snowy world they are definitely not adequately dressed for. In which Jesse and Lukas pine for each other while trying to survive frostbite and hypothermia.Inspired by that one scene where the gang exits another portal and Ivor nails Petra in the head with a snowball. It's... mostly an excuse to write Jesskas in the snow :P
Relationships: Jesse/Lukas (Minecraft)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 133





	Ice Lakes

At least no one was being accused for murder, Jesse thought bitterly as he trudged through the deep snow. He, Lukas, Petra, and Ivor were attempting to find their next exit portal as their - what was it, 30th? 31st? - guess turned out to be a snowy wasteland, an icy wind cutting through their meager clothes and howling in their undoubtedly frostbitten ears. He glanced at the others, making sure no one was lost in the white storm. Jesse found his eyes settling on one team member in particular, which was seeming to be an often occurrence as of late. Lukas was huddled in on himself, hands tucked underneath his arms in a desperate attempt to keep them warm. He was visibly shivering, along with the rest of the group. Jesse frowned. Earlier, Petra had made a comment that it was better than monsters - but Jesse wasn’t sure that was the case. If the wind didn’t let up, or they didn't find shelter soon, the four of them would be ice pops before nightfall. Jesse stared for a second longer before promptly tripping on something in the snow.

“Whoa-” not able to stop himself, Jesse fell forward, getting a face full of the powdery snow in the process. He recognized an alarmed cry from Lukas, some snickers from Petra, and a tired sigh from Ivor. Jesse dryly took comfort in the fact that his friends would always remain the same no matter where they ended up. He groaned as he flipped himself over. He was met with the sight of Lukas standing over top of him, worry in his platinum blue eyes.

“Jess? You okay?” 

Jesse grinned up at him to dispel his worry. Instantly, Lukas smiled back, and suddenly Jesse didn’t even feel the chill of the snow soaking through his armour anymore. He gratefully accepted Lukas’s hand and let himself be hauled up out of the snow, not for the first time being surprised at how strong he actually was. 

Jesse stumbled a little after getting up, face reddening as Lukas grabbed his arm to steady him. He didn’t stop to think too hard as to why.

“Thanks,” he said, brushing himself off.

“No problem, can’t have you disappearing into the snow, now can we?” Lukas joked. From up ahead Ivor called back to them, 

“And you’re short enough we’d never find you!” Jesse rolled his eyes. He wasn’t _actually_ short. He was a decent 5’7 thank you very much. It wasn’t Jesse’s fault everyone else was freakishly tall. He voiced this to the rest of the group, but was only met with another barrage of short jokes. Lukas smiled sympathetically at him. 

“Aw, don’t listen to them, you’re tall,” he said. Jesse missed the hint of mischief in his tone.

“ _Thank_ you Lukas, I’m glad someone -”

“After all, I bet you can even reach the top shelf!” Jesse spluttered and gave chase when Lukas ran away, laughing all the while. 

After blundering around the snow for a little bit, Jesse stopped to catch his breath, resting his hands on his knees. His breath came out in puffs of warm white air, quickly dissipating in the chill. The snowing had eased somewhat, no longer a flurry of snowflakes but instead drifting down in little dances, speckling Jesse’s chocolate brown hair. Despite not being adequately dressed for the weather, Jesse had to admit it _was_ beautiful. Just ahead in the distance, he could see a forest of evergreens, their deep green colour coupling nicely with the easy shades of blue that seemed to tint the rest of the landscape.

“I say we head in there,” Petra said, nodding to the forest Jesse was admiring. “The trees will give us a little shelter from the wind.”

“And with any luck, we might find our portal in there, too,” Lukas added. He paused and pulled out his leather journal - ever his faithful companion on this journey - and scribbled something down, perhaps noting the scenery. Jesse frowned. 

“Gosh, Lukas, your hands are _icy,_ ” Jesse said, grabbing Lukas’s surely frostbitten hands. Lukas started at the contact but let Jesse take his hands into his own. A blush had creeped onto the blonde’s face, surely from the cold as well.

“Well if he ever stopped taking his hands out of his pockets every five seconds to doodle in that book of his,” Ivor huffed loudly. Lukas looked up at him incredulously. 

“Wh- I’m not _doodling -_ ”

“Here put these on,” Jesse said, handing Lukas his own dark gloves. Lukas looked back to him, the question on his face turning to something flustered as he shook his head.

“Oh no, Jesse, you don’t need to,” he said. Knowing that Lukas would continue to insist he couldn’t take them, and knowing that they simply didn’t have the time to go back and forth, Jesse wordlessly took Lukas’s hands again and put the gloves on for him. Lukas’s face was _really_ red now, they’d have to find shelter soon or else Jesse was afraid Lukas would fall over from hypothermia. 

“There,” Jesse said with a smile. 

“C’mon you two,” Petra called, “Wear each other’s clothes _after_ we get to the trees.” Jesse shuffled back a bit, only now noticing how close they’d gotten. 

“Uh, yeah, we’re coming,” Jesse called back, stumbling through the snow. The wind noticeably died down when they entered the woods, the trees sheltering them somewhat from the chilly air. 

“I know we want to find the portal,” Jesse said as they navigated the evergreens, “But we might have to find somewhere to spend the night.” Ivor waved his arms about the air, 

“And where might you suggest we do that, hmm?” He accidentally knocked one of the branches, sending snow down to land on Petra. Ivor ignored her indignant cries, “Perhaps you want to build an _igloo?_ ”

Jesse rolled his eyes. Petra dusted the snow off her shoulders. 

“He’s got a point,” she said, shooting Ivor a glare, “We can’t exactly just bunk down in the snow - we’ll freeze to death before we see the sun again.”

“Not to mention the mobs,” Lukas muttered. 

“Which is why we need to find some shelter now,” Jesse insisted, “I don’t wanna take the chance of not finding the portal by nightfall.” A quiet hush fell over the group. Jesse almost preferred the mansion murder mystery - at least there was clear action, something to do. Here, it felt like they were only waiting. Lukas cleared his throat. 

“Well, we might be able to find a cave, or at least some sort of overhang nearby,” he said. Jesse raised an eyebrow. Lukas shrugged, gesturing to their left. “It looks like it gets rockier over that way, there’s a good chance we can find something. It doesn’t have to be an igloo, but snow is a great insulator - we could build up some walls, and pair that with a fire we’ll be downright cozy.”

For some reason in Jesse’s mind, _Lukas_ and _cozy_ were words that made sense together. He nodded, 

“Sounds like a plan, keep on the lookout everybody.”

With that, they set off again, in the direction Lukas had indicated. Sure enough, the land around them became hillier, til they were navigating through rocky terrain. They found no proper caves, but by the time the sun had started lowering in the sky the group found a small indentation in the side of a small cliff face, enough to form a two meter overhang. 

Petra and Ivor began the work of piling snow around the site, packing thick, tall walls in a half circle that enclosed the space. 

“Alright, Lukas,” Ivor said, not stopping from collecting the snow, “You said fire?” Lukas nodded, scanning the trees around him. 

“Jesse can light it with that flint and steel of his, but we need to find some proper firewood - dry, preferably.”

“I’ll uh, go with you,” Jesse said, not entirely sure why his breath faltered when Lukas turned to look at him. Lukas smiled, and Jesse found he had lost his breath entirely.

“Sure, let’s try this way.” They left their temporary camp to Ivor and Petra as they picked a direction and started walking. Lukas took the lead, leaving Jesse’s attention to endlessly drift. 

Jesse’s eyes drifted too, observing his companion’s fair coloured hair and the way some of it fell into his ever-striking blue eyes. His heart fluttered, and Jesse wasn’t sure why. Ignoring whatever mess of feelings was beginning to form in his stomach, Jesse found his thoughts wandering to the last few days. From portal to portal, world to world, Jesse was eternally grateful for having his friends at his side. He was well aware how banal it was, the whole “We can do anything as long as we’re together!” shtick, but Jesse honestly didn’t think he could have done _anything_ he has ever done on any adventure, if his friends had not been there with him. If Lukas hadn’t been there with him.

Jesse was frankly rather off-put at the idea of Lukas just… not being there. Because that’s the very thing, he always was. Without fail, Lukas was at his side for every adventure - it was one of the reasons Jesse loved him. 

Love? As in how he loved _all_ of his friends, of course. Now where exactly did that word come from - 

“What?” Lukas said, suddenly and violently derailing Jesse’s train of thought. WIth a start, Jesse realized he had been caught staring. He felt a deep blush rise to his cheeks.

“Uh,” Jesse said eloquently. Lukas chuckled. 

“What are you thinking so hard about over there?” he teased. 

“Aha, nothing,” Jesse tried nervously. Lukas only raised an eyebrow, and he found himself deflating. “Well, I was just - y’know, the past few days have been -” Lukas dropped his smile, amusement falling to concern. “I guess I’m just saying that, uh, I couldn’t- I’m glad you guys are with me,” Jesse gestured vaguely, “Throughout this mess.” Lukas smiled softly, and there went Jesse’s heart again. 

“Of course. Anything for y-” Lukas trailed off, glancing down. “We’re all in this together, right?” 

“Right...”

“And even if it seems extra impossible, we stick together extra hard, yeah?” Lukas nudged Jesse with his shoulder playfully. Jesse smiled at the parroted words from their time with the witherstorm. 

“Hmm, thanks, Lukas.” They looked at each other perhaps a second longer than they needed to, before turning to continue their search for fuel. At the end of the day, it was a snowy wasteland world and dry wood was rare, but between the two of them they managed to find a few armfuls of logs, and some kindling. 

Jesse was just about to think to himself that maybe, their luck was beginning to turn - but that was the exact moment a bone-chilling howl pierced the air. Jesse nearly dropped his stack of wood. It sounded _extremely_ close. He made eye contact with Lukas who was some ways away, and knew that he had heard it too. 

_What was that?_ Lukas mouthed. Jesse shrugged and shook his head.

 _I don’t know._ Another violent howl ripped through the wind, even closer this time. The blood in Jesses’ veins froze, and not from the cold. Adrenaline ricocheted throughout his body, and he dropped the logs and started running before the creature had even cleared the trees.

“Lukas, run!”

All gnashing teeth and murderous eyes, it was a single wolf, but it was the largest wolf Jesse had ever seen in his life; coming up to his chest in height, it’s jaws could easily sever someone’s head off their body. 

“What the hell is that!” Lukas yelled from somewhere next to him. Jesse didn’t slow to look over.

“Big!” He cried back, “Keep moving!” Out in the open, it would have surely caught up with them by now. The only thing that was keeping them just out of reach of the oversized creature were the trees, the wolf crashing into them as it hurled itself through the brush in pursuit. It howled behind them, a scream of rage echoing through the woods. 

In the corner of his eye, Jesse saw Lukas fumbling with his bow. Without slowing down, he nocked an arrow and drew it back, before twisting around and firing it at the wolf. It lodged itself in the thick salt and pepper fur of the beast, but it didn’t seem to hurt it. It did, however, direct its attention to Lukas. It growled once more before bounding after him solely. 

Lukas yelped before veering off to the right, wolf following suit. Jesse swore under his breath, as they both disappeared amongst the trees. 

“Lukas!” He called. There was no answer, and with another swear, Jesse turned and ran after him. Branches whipped his face as ran by, following the sound of enraged howls. _At least there aren’t any monsters my ass,_ he thought. 

Just when he thought his legs would give out, Jesse burst through the trees into a clearing. A couple dozen yards away was Lukas, bow drawn and attempting to slow down the wolf. It was to no avail, and Jesse panicked when he saw the creature tense its haunches, getting ready to pounce. He cried out in warning as the wolf leapt, but it was drowned out by a resounding _crack_ that echoed throughout the clearing. It was in that heart- stopping that Jesse realized that this wasn’t a clearing at all, but a frozen lake. 

And the ice wasn’t going to hold.

Several things happened at once. Lukas dropped his bow and rolled to dodge the wolf - barely escaping it’s deadly claws - but with another thunderous crack, Jesse watched in horror as both Lukas and the beast crashed through the ice, falling through. Eyes fixated on the spot where Lukas had just disappeared, Jesse started running. Reasoning that the broken ice was due to the weight of the massive wolf and not a person, Jesse scrambled onto the lake towards the break. As he got closer, Jesse dropped to his stomach to disperse his weight, taking in the strikingly clear ice for only a second. His panic grew with each second Lukas didn’t surface. Jesse could only imagine how icy the water was, and hoped to high hell that Lukas was still conscious. 

There was a splash, and Jesse nearly sobbed in relief as Lukas burst through the water, gasping for air. Without another moment of hesitation, Jesse grabbed Lukas’ bow off the ice and extended it to him. Lukas grabbed the other end in a death grip, still coughing.

“C’mon Lukas,” Jesse puffed as he attempted to pull his friend up onto the ice, “I got ya - shit!” Jaws snapped through the water, right behind Lukas. Jesse nearly dropped the bow but adjusted his grip, hauling Lukas out of the water. They both scrambled back as they watched the wolf wail and thrash about the ice, taking off more and more chunks, unable to pull itself back out. Eventually, the creature slowed in its attempts as the cold overtook it. The wolf disappeared back underneath the water. It didn’t resurface this time.

 _At least no one was being accused for murder,_ Jesse recalled bitterly. 

* * *

When Lukas had fallen into the water, the cold shock alone had nearly knocked him out. Ice cold water poured into his lungs, nearly freezing them to a complete stop. For a few, terrifying seconds the world blurred together into confusing shades of blue, unable to differentiate between up or down. Relying purely on instinct Lukas desperately kicked his legs, resurfacing from the water with a gasp. Jesse was there - beautiful Jesse - handing him his bow and pulling him out of the frozen water.

“Holy shit,” Jesse breathed softly once the wolf was dragged down to the bottom of the lake. Together they crawled back towards the shore. Only when Jesse was certain they were off the unstable ice, he stood up. Lukas wasn’t sure he could do the same. His body felt utterly numb. Jesse reached out to help him up, putting his arms on Lukas’ shoulders when he stumbled, legs almost giving out on him immediately. 

“Whoa, Lukas, are you alright?” 

“Y-Yeah just...” Lukas stuttered, shivering violently, “N-never been s-so cold in my life.” He laughed weakly.

“Alright, just hang in there buddy,” Jesse said, supporting Lukas with one arm. “Let’s get you back to camp, yeah?” Gently but quickly he guided them through the trees. Just as well, because the first thing Lukas wanted to do right now was _sleep._ Something in his muddled brain told him that sleeping right now would be a bad idea, but he was too tired to really think about it much more than that. Instead he focused on stumbling through the woods, to get back to camp. 

The sun had just started to set during their chase with the wolf, the snow now reflecting the light and casting a brilliant orange glow around the forest. Petra and Ivor were surely beginning to worry at this point - firewood collecting shouldn't have taken this long, Lukas thought mildly. Sure enough, as they arrived back at camp they were greeted with alarmed cries. 

“What happened!” Petra demanded. 

“Mmm… wolf,” Lukas mumbled. Petra looked at him in disbelief. Lukas let Jesse help him into their little shelter, sliding down against the stone wall. 

“He fell through the ice,” he heard Jesse explain, “He’s in cold shock and probably hypothermic.” Ivor shuffled over. 

“We need to get a fire going right away, then,” he said. Petra left to fetch the firewood they had dropped, Ivor accompanying her at Jesse’s insistence.

“We don’t know if anything else is out there, too.” He had said. Now, Jesse turned back to Lukas, frowning in concern.

“How you doing, Lukas?” He asked softly. 

Lukas attempted to smile, but he was shivering so hard it looked more like a grimace. 

“Ah, y’know… cold,” he managed to say through the chattering of his teeth. Jesse chuckled. 

“Falling through the ice will do that to you.”

“...Yeah, it’s not fun. Do not recommend,” Lukas joked. Jesse smiled at him, and yet again Lukas found himself thoroughly and utterly in love. And yet again, like he had so many times during their adventures, Lukas told himself that now was not the time. 

Despite what he told himself, Lukas was so busy getting distracted by Jesse’s dark copper eyes he nearly missed the brunet's hesitation before he started to pull off his jacket. 

“Wet clothes won’t do you any good,” Jesse said. After he tossed the clothing aside, he reached over and pushed Lukas’s wet hair out of his face. Lukas’s breath caught in his throat as Jesse’s fingers brushed against his cheek, which really didn’t help his already shallow breathing.

Unconsciously leaning into the touch, Lukas’ eyes fluttered shut. His head was spinning, and now that he was in the relatively safe confines of their camp he wanted nothing more than to lie down and let the night take him. He felt Jesse tap his cheek and he opened his eyes drowsily.

“Don’t you fall asleep on me, now,” Jesse stressed.

“Hmm, anything for you...” Lukas murmured, shivering. Lukas overlooked the way Jesse started and blushed, distracted by the sound of crunching snow. He turned to see Petra and Ivor had returned, arms full of firewood. 

“Alright Lukas, let’s get you warmed up, huh?” Petra said, crouching down and configuring the firepit. Jesse handed Ivor the flint and steel, who struck it against the tinder. It caught immediately, sparking a brilliant blue fire. It was peculiar, but it was warm. The flickering flames cast dancing blue light around them, washing them in a rather ethereal atmosphere. 

Lukas found himself dozing off a couple of times before waking up some hours later. The forest was dark now, shrouded in the indigo shadows of the night. The fire was still going, the light reflecting off the snow in a way that reminded him of water. Decidedly much warmer now, Lukas went to adjust his body when he discovered Jesse asleep on his shoulder. 

This wasn’t the first time this has happened. On more than one occasion the group - exhausted from whatever adventure they had last time - fell asleep slumped against one another, waking to a mess of tangled limbs.

Still, Lukas couldn’t dissuade the heat rising to his face, aware of how it was just the two of them this time. Upon a glance he saw Ivor and Petra on the other side of the fire, sleeping soundly to themselves.

And then Jesse shifted with a yawn, raising his head and blinking blearily. 

“Good morning,” Lukas whispered cheerfully. Jesse groaned quietly, looking at the dark forest mildly confused.

“Doesn’t look like it,” he mumbled. Lukas laughed.

“No, it’s not. I figure we have a couple hours still until dawn.” Lukas tilted his head, “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“Ha, worrying about me as if I was the one who fell through the ice.” Jesse shook his head in exasperation, “Typical.”

Quietly they shifted, sitting fully upright and shoulder to shoulder. A silence washed over them as they sat, simply just enjoying each other’s company. Just… breathing. Thinking. It was rare that they got a break when they were constantly on the move, navigating dozens of unfamiliar worlds.

“Thirty-two,” Jesse suddenly mumbled. Lukas turned his head to look at him, a question on his face. 

“Thirty-two?” He repeated. Jesse didn’t look at him, instead staring off somewhere through the trees.

“This is our thirty-second portal.” Lukas was startled for the briefest of moments, Jesse having seemed to read his mind - before he realized that Jesse's train of thought had probably gone in the same direction as him for the past several minutes. Jesse sighed, his warm breath mingling with the cold air. 

“I don’t want to tell you that I don’t know if we’ll ever get home,” he said softly. Lukas paused. 

“Lie to me, then,” he whispered. Jesse hummed. 

“We’ll find it… eventually.”

“Mm, and Axel and Olivia will be waiting for us,”

“Man, they’re not gonna _believe_ some of the things we’ve seen...”

“Yeah, magical chickens and upside down forests,”

“Talking trees and underwater kingdoms,”

“You made a very pretty mermaid,” Lukas teased. Jesse laughed,

“Oh, shut up.” They snickered to themselves, careful not to wake the others.

“Hey,” Lukas said, after some more time had passed. “We’re going to make it back.” Jesse said nothing for a minute, before settling down and resting his head on Lukas’ shoulder once more.

“I hope so,” he whispered.

And as they drifted in and out of sleep the rest of the night, until the sky lightened, Lukas dreamt of curly walnut hair and dark brown eyes - while he wondered; if even they were never to find their way home, cursed to wander through the portal hallway for eternity... 

He wondered if he would do it again. Would he still follow Jesse through the very first portal, if he had known he’d be trapped on the other side?

The sun had just peeked over the horizon when Lukas decided he would. 

**Author's Note:**

> Righto! Thanks for reading, this is my first time uploading a fic so if y'all could take the time to leave some constructive criticism, I'll be forever in your debt. This was kind of a practice project so if you have any advice on how to improve, I'd love to hear it down in the comments!


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